AFC South only fourth best in power rankings

In the summer I wrote a piece on why I thought the AFC South would be the class of the NFL for a second year in a row. Not too far into the season, I wrote a mea culpa and said John Clayton was more on target with his companion piece, which backed the NFC East.

Now, with every team having played at least half its season, three-fourths of the AFC South ranks 15th or worse in our power rankings and it's fair to call Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Houston all disappointments.

The teams in the NFC East, the NFC South and the AFC East all have better average rankings than the AFC South's 15.1, which is inflated by the Titans standing as No. 1.

Here is a breakdown:

AFC South Power RankingsRankTeamKuharsky
Last WeekKuharskyThis WeekPanel HighPanel Low1Tennessee111215Indianapolis171491923Jacksonville1421202525Houston24252128 My rationale on the teams where I was the highest or lowest vote touches on two teams this week:

New Orleans is 18th and I have the Saints 23. Teams like Minnesota, Miami and the Jets were all deserving of moves up, and I have probably given the Saints too much benefit of the doubt for too long based on the fact I had Super Bowl expectations for them when camps broke.

San Diego is 21st and, along with Tim Graham, I have the Chargers 15th. Am I hanging on too long to the Chargers? I still think they are going to wind up the class of the AFC West -- class being a term I'm using loosely since it could be tied to a 9-7 or 8-8 record.

Why advertise on goTitans.com?

With 3500+ members and over 1 million posts, goTitans.com is the place for Tennessee Titans fans to talk Titans. Created in 2000, we have multiple advertising opportunities available for those interested. Email TitanJeff for more information.

The Tip Jar

For those of you interested in helping the cause, we offer The Tip Jar. For $2 a month, you can become a subscriber and enjoy goTitans.com without ads.